General Meeting 2001

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL MEETING
Held at Legends Hotel, Surfers Paradise
Thursday, 8th February 2001, commencing at 4.30pm

1. Present

There were 31 members of the Society present.


2. Apologies

John McLeod, Jim Morrison, Michael Guilhaus, Richard O'Hair, Margaret Sheil and Charles Hocart.


3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting (2000 AGM)

The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 16th August, 2000 at La Trobe University had previously been circulated on the ANZSMS web site.

Moved R. Summons/V. Borrett that these be accepted as a true and correct record.


4. Business Arising from the Minutes

Nil


5. President's Report

See attached


6. Treasurer's Report



CURRENT ASSETS
Westpac Term Deposit - matures 22/4/01	44,825.37
Westpac Cheque Account - balance as of 31/1/01	7,659.62
	__________
	$52,484.99
STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS FROM 1/4/00 - 5/2/01
RECEIPTS
Interest (all accounts)	1,736.23
Membership (excluding ANZSMS18)	15.00
	_________
	$1,751.23
PAYMENTS
Guest speakers (John Holmes $500, Margaret Sheil $372)	872.00
ASMS Travel Assistance (3 students)	1,500.00
Audit Fee	100.00
Bank Charges	6.31
Petty Cash (Public Officer)	30.00
	__________
	$2,508.31
	__________
DEFICIT FOR YEAR TO DATE	$757.08
	__________


Moved R. Summons/J. Bowie that the report be accepted.

There was some discussion about the present $500 maximum for ANZSMS assistance to students and overseas lecturers. It was agreed to change the financial guidelines published on the ANZSMS web site to indicate that the normal maximum is $500.


7. Conference Convenor's Report

See attached

J. Traeger moved a vote of thanks for all the efforts of the organising committee.


8. Venues for ANZSMS19 and ANZSMS20

J. Traeger presented an interim report on behalf of the ANZSMS19 Convenor (R. O'Hair). An organising committee of 6 members had been formed with four professional conference organizers (PCOs) already interviewed. A number of possible venues were being examined (Melbourne University, Beechworth, Lorne, Ballarat/Bendigo, Mount Buller, Phillip Island, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley). The registration fee will depend on the venue and PCO chosen. A final decision on these issues, as well as the date (tentatively February 2-7, 2003), will be presented to the executive committee and subsequently placed on the ANZSMS web site.

The general consensus of the meeting was that the preferred venue was Lorne, preceding the annual Protein Conference, and that the organising committee should actively pursue this option.

It was agreed that ANZSMS20 will be held in Adelaide (probably February 2005) with S. Walker as the Convenor.


9. ANZSMS Membership and Fees

As a possible means of increasing ANZSMS membership and helping to maintain an active database, J. Traeger proposed that the Society should look at instituting an annual membership fee, separate from the conferences. This would require a change to the Constitution (Section 5a). After some discussion it was agreed that this would involve significantly increased secretarial work and that a better solution would be to E-mail former members who did not attend ANZSMS18, inviting them to send their due membership fee to the Treasurer. They should also remain on the ANZSMS database for at least two non-attended conferences.

Moved N. Davies/R. Summons that the fees remain at the present level of $15 for members and $30 for companies.


10. Committee Nominations

J. Traeger indicated that there was no need for nominations for the executive at this meeting because the terms of office for the present committee did not expire until the AGM later in the year. However, he noted that Richard O'Hair will be ineligible to serve as Secretary after the 2001 AGM, although he would continue on the committee as the ANZSMS19 Convenor.


11. Regional Correspondents

The following past regional correspondents were thanked for their help:

Victoria	John Traeger
QLD	Graham MacFarlane
NSW	Michael Guilhaus
SA	Mark Buntine
Tasmania	Noel Davies
ACT	Charles Hocart
WA	Stewart Walker
New Zealand	Bill Henderson



The new regional corespondents are:

Victoria	John Traeger
QLD	Graham MacFarlane
NSW	Michael Guilhaus
SA	Stewart Walker
Tasmania	Noel Davies
ACT	Paul Greenwood
WA	Robert Kagi
New Zealand	Bill Henderson



Moved by G. Willett/D. Nelson that, subject to their agreement, these new correspondents be accepted.


12. ANZSMS representative for the 16th IMSC

Margaret Sheil, who represented the ANZSMS at IMSC15 in Barcelona, will continue to be the ANZSMS representative for the 16th IMSC.

Moved by D. Nelson/J. Bartley.


13. IMSC18 Conference Bid

J. Traeger informed the meeting that the ANZSMS had been invited by the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau to submit Sydney as a bidding city for the 18th International Mass Spectrometry Conference. This is likely to be held in either 2008 or 2009. After much discussion it was agreed that the executive committee should continue to investigate the feasibility of mounting such a bid with a view to presenting a more comprehensive document to the General Meeting of the ANZSMS19 Conference. This would be approximately five months prior to the formal presentation at IMSC16 in Edinburgh 2003.


14. Any Other Business

Nil


There being no further business the meeting closed at 6.00 pm.


John Traeger
President